Of Vases and Woes
by Nargothrond
Summary: One evening in Imladris, a young Arwen finds comfort in a certain minstrel. Little!Arwen


**SUMMARY:** One evening in Imladris, a young Arwen finds comfort in a certain minstrel.

 **.**

….

 **OF ARWEN'S WOES**

by NightHaunter15

….

.

Arwen Undomiel hid underneath the beechwood bench in the lush gardens of Imladris under the black star-strewn sky, certain the no one would ever find her there. It felt like the perfect place to express her woes.

It was all over. Nana and Ada would never forgive her for saying something so mean, and neither would Elladan and Elrohir. Perhaps she would have to live under a bench for the rest of her life. They must hate her. Arwen cried unreservedly. So wrapped up in her woes, she didn't hear the frantic shouted repetitions of her name that signified the twins were searching for their beloved sister.

Neither did she realize that someone else had entered the garden and was approaching on swift, silent feet until a soft voice spoke.

"Why, Little Evenstar, what troubles you?"

Her weeping ceased abruptly. Arwen wiped tears off her cheeks with a chubby fist and peered out cautiously from underneath the bench to find Imladris' resident young minstrel on one knee, smiling brightly down at her. His silvery-white hair glinted in the moonlight and a breeze blew strands of it away from his face.

"I'm hiding, Li'dir." Arwen sniffled.

Lindir nodded. "I can see that. May I inquire as to the reason you so conceal yourself, my lady?"

Usually, being called a lady pleased Arwen and made her feel very grown-up. But now she simply crawled out from underneath the bench and threw herself onto the minstrel, tangling her hands in his straight, long hair and sobbing.

As her tears flowed once more, Lindir quickly set down his harp and rubbed her back soothingly, murmuring calming nothings in her ear as her tiny body shuddered with her sobs. He sat back on his heels and kept rubbing until Arwen's sobs gradually decreased into sniffles. Usually she went to the twins for comfort. Something terrible must have happened for her to avoid them and hide herself in the garden at night.

Arwen raised a tear-stained face. "I b-broke Elladan's fa-avorite vase," she whimpered, "the o-one 'he got at Yuletide, and now they hate me!"

Lindir's brow crinkled. "Why would your brothers hate you over a vase, Arwen?" he asked, patting her dark head reassuringly. "It's just a vase; however special it may be it certainly isn't as special as you are to them."

Arwen hiccuped miserably. "I was an-angry with 'Dan earlier because h-he wouldn't let m-me ride with them a-and he shouted at me, and I knocked it off the table not meaning to, and said that I-I was glad I broke the-the vase!" She looked down at her hands, ashamed of herself. Would Lindir be angry and yell at her too? If he did, then Arwen would know for certain that she was banished from Imladris forever.

The young minstrel gently disentangled her hands from his draping hair and wiped away her tears with the back of his palm. "Your brothers love you so much, Arwen." he said. "You're still such a little elfling that they want to protect you. That is why you can't go on certain rides with them."

"But I'm a big elfling now!" she protested. "Bigger than three! I'm even going to lose my first tooth soon, nana said."

Lindir nodded. "Yes, you _are_ growing up into a big elf. And that means you have to accept when your family tells you no. Because they are all old elves and wiser, and you have to learn many things before you can become an adult like them. Learning is part of growing up. It's a long process."

Arwen scowled. "Sometimes 'Dan and 'Ro are really bossy and I don't want to listen." she said.

Lindir winced and gave a rueful smile. "Yes, sometimes I have that incredibly strong urge to throw them into the Bruinen or dye their hair a strange color. I'm younger then them too, remember?" Lindir had been on the receiving end of the twins' pranks more than once.

He glanced toward the house where the twins' shouting was growing steadily on volume. "I think that you should tell Elladan how much you love him and you're sorry that you broke his vase."

"But he shouted at me." Arwen sniffled, rubbing her nose. "I wasn't glad I broke it at first, but then he grew really mad and so I said I was. But I'm really not." she looked glum.

"And that's what Elladan will be sorry about." Lindir lifted her off his lap and onto her own two small feet. He knew the twins would welcome Arwen back with open, repentive arms. None of the Peredhels could stay angry at each other for long.

The littlest lady of the manor was still hesitant. She played with the delicate silver pendant that hung around the minstrel's neck and with his hair. Arwen often wished that she had pale golden hair like her mother. Lindir's wasn't golden but the white, silvery strands held a certain fascination for the little lady. "So they won't send me away?" she asked uncertainly in a small voice.

"No one is going to make you live under a bench, my lady; rest assured." Lindir grinned and picked up his harp. "I'd hurry and get them before they send the entirety of the valley out looking for you."

"Can you sing me a song?" she asked, wide-eyed. "To give me courage. Can you sing about Luthien? She was strong and brave."

Lindir looked at her hopeful expression and laughed merrily, pleased that he had a way to entertain her. Most small elflings were fond of music, but as they got older they started to prefer spending more time waving sharp objects around than listening to the lores. "At your request I shall!" he replied, sitting down on the bench. Arwen climbed up beside him, her gaze fixed on the harp strings as Lindir's long, slim fingers danced from string to string.

"The leaves were long, the grass was green,

The hemlock umbels tall and fair,

And in the glade a light was seen

Of stars in shadow shimmering.

Tinuviel was dancing there

To music of a pipe unseen

And the light of stars was in her hair

And in her raiment glimmering…"

His voice rang fair and true, leaving Arwen breathless as she listened. Her heart exalted with the beautiful melody that swept her away from the garden of Imladris and into another day and Age. She could forget her troubles and lose herself in the music and picture they painted with notes and lyrics. Her adoration for the minstrel grew.

"There Beren came from mountains cold."

And lost he wandered under leaves,

And where the Elven-river rolled

He walked alone and sorrowing.

He peered between the hemlock-leaves

And saw in wonder flowers of gold

Upon her mantle and her sleeves,

And her hair like shadow following."

"From mountains cold, and rivers rolled…" Arwen murmured, imaging that one day she could travel with the twins to see towering snow-capped mountains and roaring rivers gushing through forests with flowers of gold. She couldn't wait to visit Lothlorien with her nana, who told her how beautiful it was there.

Lindir sang another few verses and Arwen yawned suddenly, blinking sleepily. It was past her bedtime.

Lindir finished and glanced at the elfling. He held back a laugh at her sleepy, perplexed expression as she struggled to stay awake. "How about I fetch the twins here for you, Undomiel?" he suggested, standing up. The twins would not appreciate it if Arwen accidentally fell into the pond because she was too tired to see straight.

Arwen watched as he walked away, and suddenly grew wide awake.

….

"Arwen! Arwen, pen-neth where are you?" Elrohir cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled. They had been searching for a quarter of an hour and the entirety of Imladris probably knew by now that the youngest Peredhel was missing. If they didn't find her soon then a blasted search party would have to comb the valley. It wasn't inhabited by orcs and over-sized forest spiders, but that didn't mean it was a perfectly safe place for a young elfling to be at night.

" _Arwen Undomiel_! I swear, 'Ro, she's as bad or worse as we were at her age!" Elladan growled, coming out from behind a tall tree. The two brothers stood in the small glade where Elrohir had gotten into a fistfight long ago, bathed in moonlight that heightened their ethereal elven glow and deepened the shadows beneath leafy boughs.

Elrohir grimaced. "It seems like our family has a habit of disappearing. At least we had our bond to find each other."

"I shouldn't have yelled at her." Elladan clenched his fists at his sides, angry with himself for losing his temper over such a small thing. Small _inconsequential insignificant thing_. Sure, the vase - a gift from Laketown - was - had been - important to him, but definitely not worth getting so upset about it that he hurt Arwen's feelings so. And neither had been her constant pestering to go out on patrol with them. Valar, she was just a baby how could she know better?

The twins were about to scour the woods again when a voice hailed them. They turned and saw Lindir running toward them across the empty training grounds, his harp clasped firmly in hands. Lindir slid to a stop and raised his eyebrows. "No wonder she can beat the pair of you at hide-and-seek."

"Lindir, you found her? Where is she?" the twins chorused together, surrounding him.

Lindir nodded and pointed with his free hand back toward the house. "She's in the garden, waiting for you. I found her crying under a bench convinced that you hated her and that she was banished forever."

Elladan paled. "Valar!" he breathed, kicking his stupidity again internally. "Where did she get that idea?"

Lindir smiled dryly. "Presumably sometime when you yelled at her. Really, Elladan. Shouting at a child never ever ends well. I kind of thought you would know that better than anyone else."

Elladan scowled darkly while Elrohir tried his best not to laugh in his twin's face. "I still haven't forgotten what you did, Lindir." he growls. "And next time Erestor won't be around to protect you."

The high councillor was extremely strict about his library. He could smell a prank from a mile away and always chased them off for fear their antics would harm his precious books.

Lindir smirked. "When my enemies are utter buffoons, I hardly need his protection."

"Right," agreed Elrohir. "What you'll need is a gravedigger."

The young minstrel had the good grace to look slightly concerned about his future well-being, and cleared his throat. "Lady Arwen is waiting and I had better get back or Lord Erestor will have my head. Namarie, Elrondions." he departed quickly and reminded himself to lock the door and window of his room extra tight that night.

The twins exchanged triumphant looks and then ran off toward the garden; anxious to find their little sister. Sure enough they spotted her seated on a bench near the rose bushes, swinging her legs back and forth and humming the tune of the Tale of Tinuviel. She looked up nervously and stopped humming when she caught sight of her brothers approaching.

"Arwen, pen-neth," Elrohir began, upset that she was so nervous, but Elladan interrupted.

"Arwen, I'm so sorry for shouting at you." Elladan said, shamefaced, anger and guilt at his actions washing over him again. "It was terrible of me."

She looked away, then back at them. Her gray eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry too, 'Dan!" she wailed. "I really didn't want to break your vase!"

"Its not just the vase, Arwen-"

"We're sorry that we haven't been paying much attention to you for so long-"

"-and for going on so many patrols and hunting trips-" Elladan said.

"And for being so grumpy all of the time?" Arwen piped up.

The twins nodded. "That too," said Elladan. "Extremely grumpy."

"We promise not to be so grumpy from now on." Elrohir finished. "And play with you as often as we can." he stroked his sister's dark brown hair. "We love you, Evenstar, as much as Nana and Ada do. We would never want you to go away and never come back. We'd miss you. "

For a minute, Arwen was quiet. Then she spoke, "I'm sorry for being so silly." she murmured, hiding her face in her small hands.

Elladan sat down and gathered her into his lap while Elrohir knelt and wrapped his arms around the both of them, lightly resting his head on Arwen's. Overhead, the star of Earendil seemed to burn brighter as he watched over his descendents with pride.

After a few happy minutes of being like that, the small elfling broke the peaceful silence. "I don't want to go to bed yet, because I'm not tired!" she said, covering her mouth as a yawn betrayed her. "I want to talk about what kind of games and things we can all do together tomorrow!"

The twins exchanged looks over the elfling's head, and identical smirks appeared on their faces.

"Arwen," began Elladan. "How would you like to prank Lindir?"

THE END

.

.

 **Thank you for reading, and please review! I'd love to hear what you think about this fic. I know… I'm procrastinating to keep from writing what I technically should be writing (Remnants of Shadows) but I'm going to add some of these characters in as well in that and I want to gain some experience with their personalities.**

 **Also, note: I know that Lindir is portrayed in the films as brown haired instead of blond, but having so many dark-haired characters gets kind of boring after awhile. I consider him of Teleri descent (like Firieth, since she has silver hair) and those elves are quite musically inclined (or so I've heard). If this isn't true, then feel free to correct me.**

 **Please review! FOOL OF A TOOK. xD**

 **-Night**


End file.
